Life Isn't All That Bad
by SomeoneWhoWantsToHelp
Summary: This is a comic I wrote and turned into an actual story. Hope you like. (One Shot).


In a small city in the middle of scenic nowhere, Businessman Joseph Lane walked out of a big-name supermarket. Supermarkets like that were rare around here. This city was so small and in the middle of nothingness, that most would never recognize the name of it. Despite the surprisingly large size of the city, this was the only big-name supermarket in an hundred mile radius. Here, the days were hot, but the sun never shone. Here, the nights were cold, but the northern breeze never blew to this city. This place seemed like one imagined up between the realms of reality and fiction, but it was all too real. Most here were poor from the conditions. Almost nobody could live off the income. You would be lucky to even get minimum wage. Now, back to where I was, Joseph Lane walked out of the big-name supermarket. He, was like the lower class citizen anywhere else, but here, he might as well been a king for the money he had. He was one of only a few that could shop at this supermarket, granted, he did work there. There were only a few workers there at the market, him, his friend, and a young teen that couldn't of been 14, but conditions here made it so where everyone had to get a job at such a young age. Without rambling on, I'll continue with the story.

Joseph Lane was a, by comparison, a wealthy man. He had just finished with a day's work at the supermarket, and hurried to get home with the groceries he had for him and his 12-year-old son, Mark.

"Open!" yelled Joseph as he kicked at the trunk of his car, trying to get it to open. "OPEN!" He rolled his eyes and decided to walk home instead.

About half-way there, he heard a sudden short scream, that was quickly cut-off by what sounded like a hand covering a mouth.

Things like this were common in this city, someone always seemed to get jumped or robbed in an alleyway, but Joseph, being the good man he was, started to sweat. He knew that he shouldn't get involved in this, like most citizens here would. He was a good man, but also a smart man. He knew not to go, for he couldn't dare risk himself, in so, abandoning his only son. The screams continued as he walked past the alleyway. Hearing the screams of fear and pain, he started to cry under his breath. He was a very good man, he wanted to help the woman who was screaming, but couldn't bring himself to it.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard and the screams ceased. He just couldn't take it anymore! Joseph quickly dropped the bags he was holding and took off towards the dark alleyway where the screams were heard from just seconds before. When he was about there, he slowed down and peaked his head around the corner of the wall to see exactly what he was getting himself into. All he saw in the darkness was a young man, a teen more-like it, and no one else. The teen, was rummaging through a small handbag, on the ground a few meters away from him was a small pocket-pistol. After assessing the situation, he decided to run at the bandit, hoping he could get to him before the teen could grab the gun again. Joseph's steps were loud, but the bandit didn't seem to notice; he jumped at him, and the teen quickly fell to the ground. He was startled by Joseph, he didn't know him, but he still wasn't expecting anyone to come after him. Despite being tackled, much like a football, he kept a tight grip on the handbag he was searching through before.

"Where is she!" Joseph yelled at the boy.

Trying to play dumb, he responded, "Who are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that BS!" Joseph yelled at him.

"Alright, alright man. She left after I shot the gun. I didn't hit her man."

In relief, Joseph mistakenly loosened his pin on the teen. The kid noticed this and quickly took advantage of it. He shimmied enough to where he could get his hands on the ground in a pushup-like position. Joseph tried to re-pin him, but was pushed upwards in one swift move by the teen. The boy had no hesitation in crawling to the gun. Once he got to it, he jumped up and pointed it right at Joseph. He looked up at it, he looked straight into the barrel of the gun. He winced at the sight of it, as it resurfaced his most painful memory.

He had seen a gun from this angle before, when his only son Mark was born. He and his wife were just released from the hospital. She had asked Joseph to hold their newborn as she put away her money and her debit-card. At first, Joseph offered to take her purse and put it away for her, but she declined his offer. They decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway that was only a block away from their apartment instead of having to walk the extra three or four block length that framed the main streets. As they walked through it, a man appeared from what seemed like thin-air. He didn't even hesitate or ask for the money, he just took out his pistol and shot Joseph's wife straight in the chest. She fell down instantly and her purse went flying forward towards the man, who gladly took it. Joseph stood there in shock at what had just happened, he couldn't emotionally comprehend what had just happened. He stood there, still holding baby Mark in his hands, as the man quickly changed his aim straight at Joseph's head. He stared down the barrel, finally realizing what was happening, and tightened his grip on his son, thinking it would be the last. The stranger gave no emotion as he pulled the trigger. To the surprise to both Joseph and the man, the gun made a click noise, indicating that it was out on ammo. The man then took off running, leaving Joseph to deal with the death of the his wife, the woman he loved dearly, the woman he vowed he would die for. Now he had failed, and couldn't do anything about it. As if on cue, it started to rain, making the whole situation worse as Mark started to cry. Joseph then knelt down towards the body of his wife and took a new vow, to keep their child safe, and to always protect him no matter the cost.

Now, looking into the barrel of this young kid's gun, he realised that he had once again failed his promise; his promise of being there to keep Mark safe. He awaited death as he heard the teen cock the gun. He closed his eyes and started to pray for the safety of his son in the future, for him to find a good girl, get married, and most of all, leave this hell-hole of a city. As he laid there, he heard a "ding" and opened his eyes to see the gun lying on the ground. He looked at the boy to see that his hands were shaking, as if in fear for what he had become. Joseph then stood up and slowly approached the kid, after all, he was still just a kid. He kicked the gun away from both of them. In that time, the boy sat down and grabbed his knees and started to cry into them. Joseph hesitantly sat down beside him and put his hand on the kid's shoulder. He asked for the teen's name, which with some struggle, he got out of him. After some more questions along those lines, Joseph told the kid that he was going to call the police to come. The kid started to cry at that, but understood.

It took the cops more than enough time to come, but they did arrive, and took the kid into custody. A few months later, Joseph was called into court as a witness. He started to tell his side of the story as he looked at the kid. He had a few scars on him and a black eye. He had been in the prison for few months, despite him being a minor. He had been through a lot there, as Joseph could tell by the bruises and scars on the kid's body. As he told the story, he left out the detail of the kid pointing the gun at him. He, like said before, was a good man, a forgiving man, and wanted the kid to somehow fix his ways. The time went by fast as he sat there. Before he knew it, the jury came up with a strangely fast decision. They found the defendant "Guilty" and the punishment was of for 3 years in prison. Joseph almost winced at this decision. He watched as they took the kid and brought him into the backroom, for what seemed like to never-be-seen-again. He solemnly walked home, all in his business uniform, hoping that the kid could somehow survive the years to come for him.

 **There was something for you guys. I hope you liked it. It was actually an essay I wrote for my school. I had to keep it limited to a certain amount of pages and I also re-formatted it for you and everything. And of course, the A/N's would not be in the copy I will turn into school. Alright well, I hope you liked it.**

 **Anyways, R. &R., PM for any ideas for other stories, and read for enjoyment.**

 **-SomeoneWhoWantsToHelp**


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